Improvement in hog-cleaning machines



2 Sheets--Sheet1.

N'. slLvEa-rn'on. Hog-Cleaning Mach ines.

Patented Aug. 4,1874.

No.l53,788.

Jill/anfanagg. 4

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NEWMAN SILVERTHORN, OF TORONTO, CANADA.

IMPROVEMENT IN HUG-CLEANING MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 153,788, dated August 4, 1874; application led January 28, 1874.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NEWMAN SILVERTHORN, of the city of Toronto, Province of Ontario, in the Dominion of Canada, have invented a machine for removing from the carcasses of hogs the hair, sourf, slime, and dampness after the hogs are killed and scalded, of which the following is a specification:

The object of my invention is to save the time and manual labor expended at present in cleaning the skin of hogs. It consists essentially in the combination of concave rollers, the inner surfaces of which form the periphery of an almost continuous circle. All the rollers revolve in the same direction, and have attached to their outer surfaces, at suitable distances apart, flexible spring-Scrapers, made of steel or other suitable material. These scrapers all radiate from a common center, this center being that from which the circle formed by the inner sides of the rollers is described. The flexible springs, as they revolve, play upon the hog as it is drawn through the Scrapers in a direction opposite to the motion of the rollers by a hook attached to a chain which is wound on a drum. My invention also consists in the novel arrangement and construction of the boxes, bevel-gears, connecting and driving the rollers, by means of which the operator, by rods and bell cranks or other similar appliances, can cause the circle formed by the inner side of the rollers to be enlarged or contracted to suit the ever-varying sizes of hogs passing through, regulating the pressure of the scrapers without interfering with or stopping the motion of the revolving rollers. The machine is also constructed to spread or draw together the rollers automatically by the pressure of the hogs, as hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a sectional view of my machine. Fig. 2 is a plan of the same, the frame being shown in section for the better illustration of the rollers, &c. Fig. 3 is a detail of a flexible scraper. Fig. 4 is a detail of sleeve with yoke.

Similar letters of reference indicate correspondin g parts.

A designates the frame-work of a factory, to which the frame A1 of my machine is attached, either solidly or by pivot above and below, in order that the whole machine may be reversed, asin Fig. l. B indicates the revolving concave rollers, molded to the shape shown, each inner side of the roller forming a part of the periphery of a circle. The rollers may be equal in length, or unequal, to suit circumstances, opposite rollers being equal. C are shafts, to which the rollers B are attached, and fitting into the bearing-boxes E3 fastened to the frame A1. These boxes are constructed to slide on a lower plate in a direction atright angles with the axis of drum by any of the ordinary ways known to the trade. I have, however, found that comparatively satisfactory results are obtained by using the rollers in stationary bearings, although the machine herein shown and described is much superior to one having iixed bearings. In the present case the method of adapting the boxes to slide is shown similar to the method used in the ordinary lathe-slide-rest. D designates adjustable flexible Scrapers, made of any suitable material, fastened to the rollers B, and radiating from the Vcenter a', from which the circle formed by the inner sides of the rollers B is described. These scrapers can be either plain or have sub-Scrapers d fastened to their flat sides, as shown, for the purpose of increasing the number of scraping-edges. The scrapers D are of such a length that when the machine is scraping the smallest hog a circle of about four inches is left clear in the center.

The scraper-s D are also so distributed on the surface ofthe rollersB that when they group in revolving at the common center a: they will always closely scrape a hog on all the differ# ent parts and sizes of its body, leaving no place vacant or untouched by some scraper, each scraper having a spot to touch, whether slightly bent on a small hog or greatly deflected by the passage of a large hog. The Scrapers are more numerous on the lower roller for the purpose of carrying the weight of the hog when passing through the Scrapers between the conducting-slides G. E E are the bevelgears, constructed in the ordinary way, with the exception that the hubs are elongated, forming sleeves E4, the whole being adapted to slip easily upand down the shafts, the wheels driving and being driven by feathers e sunk in the shafts C, and fitting into seats cut in the hubs in the ordinary way. On the end of sleeves E4, opposite to the bevel-wheels, a flange is left, the whole being turned and fitted. Between these anges and the bevel-wheels it the yokes El, with suitable caps, &c., connectin gthe bevel-wheels together and holding them in gear. It will readily be seen that this arrangement, in combination with the sliding bearing-boxes E3, allows the rollers B to be extended equally from the center w, either by the man operating the machine, by means of the rods l3 and I, bell-cranks I1, and lever I2, or by the pressure of the hog on the scrapers, without stopping the rollers B or interfering with the proper workin g of the bevel-gearin g. F is the driving-pulley, which may be keyed to any of the shafts to suit circumstances, and may be driven from either side-when the machine is reversed. Gr is the conducting slide or trough leading from the scalding-vat to and from the machine. G is the traveling hook, traversing, by cross-head, on the slide G, one end having a hinged hook, the other end being connected, by a chain, H, with a drum. This hook is intended to be self-acting-that is, when the hog is drawn through the scraper and dropped the hook is brought back by a counter-balance and line attached to the crosshead. I l I2 Id I4 are a system of rods, bellcranks, and levers, by which all the bevelgears are worked in unison and equally.

My machine could be made self-enlarging and to work automatically by using the counter-balance I6 and lever I7, (shown by dotted lines,) and dispensing with the screwed rod I3 and nut I5, the tendency of the counter-balance and lever being to cause the rollers to approach the center x, from which they recede as the hog passes through.

The frame A1 is made reversible in order that, when the Scrapers get bent, set, dull, or otherwise deranged, they can be adjusted again simply by reversing the Whole:` frame and running the Scrapers in an opposite direction. A

Should it be desired that any portion of the hogs passing through be left unscraped--say for the bristlesby removing some of the detachable scrapers which bear upon that part of the body so covered they remain uninjured, and may be removed by hand.

I claim as my inventionl.4 In a machine for depilating or cleaning the carcasses of hogs, a series of rollers armed With spring-Scrapers revolving simultaneously about their respective axes, the Scrapers forming an endless-depilator or cleaner, acting upon the hog in a direction opposite to that traversed by the carcass during the process of cleaning, substantially as herein set forth.

2. The revolving rollers B, having attached the iiexible Scrapers D, the shafts C, and feathers e, in combination with the sliding bevel-gears E E, having sleeves E4, the yoke El, sliding boxes E, the rods I, bell-cranks I1, lever I", and counter-balance I6, arranged and operating substantially as described.

3. The frame of the machine A1, carrying the depilating or cleaning devices, the frame being pivoted at A2, and adapted to be reversed or turned over bodily, as and for the purposes specified.

4. The elastic Scrapers D, operating in the manner herein set forth, provided with the sub-Scrapers d, as and for the purpose specifled.

In witness whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

NEWMAN SILVERTHORN. Witnesses:

GEO. A. AIRD, GEORGE RrDoUr. 

